


The Best Worst Mistake You Ever Made

by ohlooksomethingshiny



Series: Zukka Week 2021 [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), F/F, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Only one bed... because of course, Zukka Week 2021, idiots to lovers, oh my god they were roommates, the roommate thing isn’t really important but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29989365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlooksomethingshiny/pseuds/ohlooksomethingshiny
Summary: Zuko’s first mistake was letting Mai think he was dating his roommate.Or maybe his first mistake was falling in love with him in the first place.Either way, it won’t be the last mistake he makes when it comes to Sokka.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zukka Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205990
Comments: 14
Kudos: 103
Collections: Zukka





	The Best Worst Mistake You Ever Made

Zuko was screwed. Zuko was oh so screwed. 

When he had received the invitation to Mai and Ty Lee’s wedding, he had thought, ‘hey it’s kind of lame to show up to your lesbian ex-girlfriend’s wedding without a date.’ So he checked the box to RSVP for Zuko plus one thinking that the wedding was several months away so surely he could be dating someone by then. That was his first mistake.

When Mai had received the RSVP she called immediately, demanding to know if Zuko was suddenly dating someone that he hadn’t told her about. He floundered for a moment before blurting out the first name that came to mind. He ended up telling her that he was dating Sokka, who just so happened to be his roommate. This was mistake number two. 

Mistake number three was not so much one mistake but rather a series of mistakes. See, Zuko never told Sokka about any of this. He had many opportunities. There were several times where Sokka literally brought up the wedding, and yet Zuko said nothing. 

So here he was, a week from the wedding, and Sokka still had no idea that he was meant to be his date. 

The way Zuko saw it, he had three options. He could tell Sokka what he did and potentially get a fake date out of it (or maybe Sokka would decide he actually hates him?), he could just go alone and tell Mai that they had a falling out or broke up, or he could change his name and start a new life in the wilderness. Zuko couldn't lie, option three was looking pretty appealing. 

Unfortunately for him, he had no wilderness survival skills so it looked like it would have to be one of the other two. 

Turns out, he doesn’t have to make a decision because Mai makes it for him. 

“Uh, Zuko?” Sokka asks, “Why did your friend Mai send me a message on instagram about her wedding this weekend?”

Zuko freezes. “Shit,” he mutters, “I can explain!”

Sokka raises his eyebrows and gestures for Zuko to go ahead and do just that. 

“Right, so, uh, when I got the invitation I thought it would be kind of lame to go to my ex-girlfriend’s wedding without a date so I RSVPed for two and then Mai called and asked if I had a secret boyfriend and I panicked and said the first name I could think of which happened to be you. I’m really sorry, you don’t have to go with me or anything”

“Who says I don’t want to go?”

Zuko blinks at him. “What?” 

“Dude, I love weddings! I would be happy to be your fake secret boyfriend for the weekend,” Sokka says, grinning. 

“What?” Zuko said, beginning to sound a little like a broken record. 

The smile slides off of Sokka’s face and he looks a little disappointed. “Do you not want me to come with you?”

Zuko’s eyes widen. ‘No, no I definitely want you to come. I was just worried that I had freaked you out.”

“Oh come on, you know I’d do anything for my best bud!” Sokka says, ruffling Zuko’s hair. 

And there was the reminder of Zuko’s fourth mistake—or maybe this one was actually the first? He doesn’t totally remember when it happened, he just knows that it did. This mistake, his biggest mistake by far, was falling in love with a boy who would never see him as anything more than a friend. 

Zuko was probably making his fifth mistake agreeing to let Sokka come along as his fake date instead of just facing his ex-girlfriend’s wedding alone. 

How many more mistakes could he make regarding Sokka before he learned his lesson? 

The answer, apparently, was a lot more. Zuko explained the logistics of the weekend to Sokka. They were going to drive up on Friday and then the wedding would be on Saturday and they’d come home Sunday. Zuko had already gotten a hotel room reserved and Sokka already had a suit so the planning part turned out to be pretty painless. 

Six hours in a car with Sokka after a long day of work, however? Not painless. He had the weirdest, most eclectic taste in music. One minute they were listening to some showtune and the next it was some indie band that Zuko had never heard of. And Sokka knew every word. And what he lacked in singing talent, he made up for in sheer volume. If Zuko wasn’t in love with the guy he would have killed him. 

Zuko couldn’t say he was sad to hear the Sokka concert end when they reached the hotel. They checked in and lugged their bags up to the room. Sokka whined a little about the lack of a luggage cart as he wanted to push Zuko down the hall on it. Zuko silently thanked the universe for that one. Then he quickly revoked that thanks when Sokka swung open the door to their room to reveal a single bed. 

Apparently mistake number six was booking a room with only one bed. Because of course that’s what Zuko did. 

Sokka however, doesn’t seem to care. He drops his bag on the floor and flops down on one half of the bed. When he looks up and sees Zuko still standing in the doorway, he pats the space next to him. “What are you doing all the way over there? I don’t bite,” he says.

So Zuko takes off his shoes and flops down next to him. Sokka grabs the remote and turns on the TV. He flips through the channels until he lands on some nonsense show that managed to catch his eye. 

Zuko doesn’t mean to fall asleep almost immediately, but in his defense, it had been a pretty long day between having to go to work in the morning and then making the long drive. He doesn’t even take off his jeans before he crashes. 

When Zuko wakes up, it’s 7:36 the next morning. Sokka’s snoring into his shoulder with an arm thrown across Zuko’s chest and their legs tangled together. It isn’t the most romantic cuddling position Zuko’s ever been in but the fact that it’s Sokka makes up for that. Plus, he looks really cute when he’s asleep. Zuko could probably do without him drooling on his shoulder though. 

He’s not really sure how long he can just lay here and watch his roommate sleep before it gets weird. Or maybe it’s already weird. Yeah, he should probably get out of this situation before he does something he might regret like kiss Sokka on the forehead. Zuko decides that he’s going to do his best to wiggle out of the bed and go take a shower. 

Unfortunately, Sokka has other plans because the moment Zuko starts to move he opens one eye and says, “Hey,” with a sleepy little grin. And Zuko could just absolutely melt right there. He refuses to let himself entertain the idea of getting to wake up to that every morning. 

Zuko tells him good morning and then continues trying to extract himself from Sokka, as much as he doesn’t want to. When he successfully escapes from the bed, Sokka gives a little discontented hum before rolling over and closing his eyes again. 

When Zuko Is done with his shower, he comes out of the bathroom to find Sokka still sleeping, but now he’s starfished across the entire bed. The sight makes him smile a little before he realizes that with Sokka taking up the whole bed he doesn’t have anywhere to sit. So Zuko decides to make it his mission to go find them some breakfast. 

Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel there’s a breakfast buffet. Perfect. Zuko grabs himself some coffee, puts some eggs on a plate, and just enjoys a quiet breakfast by himself. 

When he’s finished, he goes to make a plate for Sokka. He makes sure to grab him plenty of bacon and also some fruit loops because Zuko’s lived with him long enough to know what his favorite cereal is. He also makes two cups of coffee, a second one for himself and one for Sokka. He walks back to the room and manages to avoid dropping the plate or either of the cups.

Sokka’s still asleep when he gets the door open. Zuko shakes him awake and quickly offers the breakfast as an I’m sorry I woke you up peace offering. 

Sokka accepts and mercifully does not murder Zuko for interrupting his rest, but he still does his best to kill him. As soon as he sees the plate of food, his eyes light up and Sokka blurts out, “I love you so much!” and digs in. And this is what almost kills Zuko. Sokka clearly didn’t mean it the way Zuko wishes but hearing it still makes his heart skip a beat. 

They lounge around the hotel room for most of the day. Sokka finds some more nonsense to watch, this time some reality TV show that Zuko finds himself getting more and more into as they watch. 

They do eventually have to get up and make themselves presentable for the wedding. Sokka gets out of bed to take a shower and Zuko decides to use that time to put on his suit and get changed.

Zuko is sitting on the bed, scrolling on his phone when Sokka emerges from the bathroom wearing his suit as well. He looks so good that Zuko can’t breathe for a moment. 

It must show on his face because Sokka looks himself up and down and asks, “What? Is there something on my suit?”

“No. You look nice,” he manages to say without sounding too much like he’s barely holding himself back from confessing his undying love to his best friend. 

Sokka grins. “Well thank you, couldn’t let you show up to Mai’s wedding with a fake date who doesn’t look good, now could I?”

The reminder that they aren’t actually real dates to this wedding stings a little. But Zuko knew what he was getting himself into so he’s just going to have to get over himself. He doesn’t want his one sided pining to put a damper on Mai and Ty Lee’s wedding. 

And so he doesn’t let it. The wedding is beautiful, as he expected it would be given that Ty Lee’s involved. And Zuko does tear up a little when they’re officially married. He’s just really happy for Mai and not at all thinking about how it would feel to be up there himself with… someone. He’s not going to allow himself to fantasize about marrying a man who clearly doesn’t feel the same way. 

When they get to the reception, Zuko immediately grabs the nearest alcohol. It turns out to be champagne which he isn’t a huge fan of but drinks anyway. When he’s done, Sokka drags him out to the dance floor. If it were anyone else, Zuko would have fought it harder, but since it’s Sokka, he lets himself be tugged with minimal complaining. 

He and Sokka dance to several upbeat songs. Well, Sokka dances and Zuko mostly sways awkwardly. 

Then, the songs slow down and Sokka’s pulling him in close. Zuko tenses, more from surprise than anything else. 

“You okay?” Sokka asks, starting to step away from Zuko.

“Yeah, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Well I want to dance with you if that’s alright,” he says. Zuko doesn’t know what he means by that, but he can’t help but hope that he means it as something more than the fake date thing they’re doing. But before he can get his hopes up, Sokka opens his mouth again, “Wouldn’t want the people to get suspicious of this relationship.” 

Of course he doesn't feel the same way. Zuko should have seen that coming. But even so, Zuko can’t pass up a chance to dance with Sokka, real or not. 

And dance they do. Kind of. It’s really just more of Zuko’s typical awkward swaying but now they’re doing it together. 

He’s actually really enjoying himself when Mai comes over to talk to him for the first time all night. He unfortunately has to stop dancing with Sokka for the conversation but he stays close. 

“Hi. I’m really glad you came,” She says

“Yeah, thanks for inviting me. It was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations on the wife.”

Mai smiles, “Thanks. And congrats to you on the boyfriend. I have to say, I was surprised that you finally confessed after being in love with him all these years. Ty Lee and I thought you’d never do it.”

Zuko doesn’t hear much else after that. He thinks maybe Mai tells them to enjoy the rest of the night and then maybe he tells Sokka he’s going to the bathroom or maybe he doesn’t. Either way, he ends up out in the hallway by himself. He takes a deep breath and hopes that he has time to figure out what the hell he’s going to say before he has to face Sokka.

He does not get that wish. 

Sokka finds him in the hallway almost immediately. Zuko waves at him awkwardly and says, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sokka says, looking just as uncomfortable as Zuko feels. 

“So, uh, any chance you didn’t hear what Mai said?”

Sokka gives him an awkward smile. “Unfortunately not.” Of course. Zuko wouldn’t be that lucky. 

Zuko sighs, “Yeah, that’s what I figured. Can we just pretend it didn’t happen?”

“I’d rather we didn’t.” 

And Zuko has no idea what to do with that. But he can’t let himself hope that Sokka might feel the same way when he has the ability to absolutely crush him right now with his reaction. So he reverts back to angsty teenage Zuko and lets his first reaction be anger. “What, So you can get the satisfaction of rejecting me?” he snaps. 

Sokka looks surprised. ‘What? No! I just need to know if it’s true.”

“Well it is, are you happy now?” Zuko asks, turning to try and escape this conversation before he gets his heart broken. 

“Yeah, actually,” Sokka says, grabbing Zuko’s hand to keep him from running away. “Because I’ve been in love with you for so long.”

Well, Zuko certainly can’t say he was expecting that. Someone had to be messing with him. There’s no way that Sokka could be saying what Zuko thinks he’s saying. That would be crazy. But then he’s turning around to look at Sokka and he doesn’t look like he’s messing with him. 

“Can I kiss you?” Sokka asks. 

Zuko leans forward and connects their lips together, because that’s a much better answer than anything he could have said with words. 

“I’ve been waiting forever to do that,” Sokka says when they pull apart. So Zuko kisses him again. They apparently have some lost time to make up for. 

In the end, the only mistake Zuko made was not kissing Sokka sooner.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the musical If/Then!
> 
> My tumblr is ohlook-somethingshiny if you want to come say hi! Or click [here](https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/) :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


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